Pedi said to stop bottles

Hi all -

We just got back from our 12 month appointment. It went great - Emma is 18 lbs. 12.5 ounces and Mia is 16 lbs. 8.5 ounces. I know that they are on the small side but they are maintaining their curves and the pedi is very happy with their growth. I was ready for her to tell me that it was time to switch to milk - but she said to drop all bottles and formula and go right to sippy cups and milk starting immediately.

It is great, but for 12 months I have been obsessed with making sure that they drink X amount of ounces every day. I admit that I am a complete control freak about bottles and schedules so how do I learn to let it all go? I have already told DH that I would like to continue the bedtime bottle for a bit - I am not ready for that and I want to make sure they get all they need before they go to bed.

So they are napping now - when they wake do I just give them a sippy with milk and their lunch?

Don't get me wrong - I am excited that we will have more time and no bottles to wash but I how will I know that they are getting enough? I have a feeling that they won't drink as much out of the sippy cups - I guess that is ok - but it is just SO strange.

I would love any advice - or encouragement - from all you moms that have been through this - especially those of you who don't have big drinkers.

Wow - I guess the questions don't end with the 1 year b-day! It's a whole new ballgame...

 

Ok, I'm a confessed type A about my kids fluid amounts and schedules, too. You can keep the same schedules, but with sippy cups. Believe me (and about a million others here) when I say that the first couple weeks are tough getting them to drink enough, but after that, they just go right back to drinking. I phased bottles out one at a time per week. So week 1 they got their 7 am, 3pm, and 7 pm bottles, and a sippy at 11. Then week 2 we dropped the 3 pm bottle, and so on. Some others say cold turkey worked better for them, and I believe them. I was probably making it harder than it was, but I'm type A. Also, I used gerber sippies that have measurement guides on the side, so I always know how much they are drinking, and I give them their drink before the food as an "appetizer" while I get their food prepared and they wait in the highchairs. And remember, you can always give extra "supplemental" calcium, via other milk products, and water or juice for hydration, while they work up to using their sippies more consistently. If regular sippies don't work, also remember many of us have said the straw cups worked, too. my Hannah wouldn't use the sippy at first, but loved the straw, and then suddenly switched back to sippies about a month after dropping bottles. Good luck!

 

I remember this being a stressful time as well. This transition seemed harder than most. But, you will get through it. First off, they only need like 15 oz of milk/day so they don't need a ton...really just two sippy cups worth. I have one daughter who was only 18 pounds as well when she turned one and I was concerned with her drinking enough. She didn't take to the sippy cups that well in the beginning so for a few weeks, she didn't drink as much. Eventually she got the hang of it. We tried different kinds...the nuby's work pretty well since they are similar to the bottle. We eventually settled on nuby straw cups. They used the podee bottles a lot and the straw is a similar motion. We did leave the bed time bottle for a while and just started with the others. Milk can stay out a lot longer than bm/formula so we actually just have the milk available most of the day (now it's not an issue, but in the beginning it was). I also held the sippy for her when she refused to hold it herself. On another note, switching to milk was no big deal. I gave them one bottle that was half and half and they didn't notice so I went to 100% milk for the next one and never looked back. Once I knew we were fine with the milk, I tackled the sippy cups. Give yourself about a month for the transition to be complete and have patience. Your girls will be okay even if they don't get a lot of milk for a while...just feed them yogurt/cheese/etc. to make up for the deficiency. Good luck.

 

I had my girls off of bottles and formula at 11 months. For us the transition was extremely easy. I'm not sure what your schedule is but this is what we did. I give them a sippy of milk when they woke up, after that is almost done I feed them breakfast, I also give them a sippy of milk with lunch and dinner. In the beginning I gave them a sippy with milk before bed but later changed that to a bowl of yogurt. I make sure they eat lots of cheese, yogurt, and cottage cheese.

On a side note, they sooner you make the transition from bottle to sippy the easier it usually is. I hope everything goes smoothly for you.

 

QUOTE
Ok, I'm a confessed type A about my kids fluid amounts and schedules, too. You can keep the same schedules, but with sippy cups.


Ditto... my guys still have a bedtime sippy with milk.

 

I've posted this before in response to similar questions. IMO, getting off bottles should NOT be an over night transition. Transition gradually and make it easier on all of you. Maybe some children have mastered sippies and still manage to drink as much milk as they need by exactly 12 months of age, but if you are like the some of us who need a little transition time, take it. Your pedi doesn't need to know

BTW, my girls still had a night-time bottle until they were 2 years old so our transition was VEEERRRYY gradual. As long as you brush their teeth and don't let them linger over their bottles, I don't see what the big deal is.

 

We dropped the last bottle gradually, from about 11-13 months. We were off them completely at about 13 months. We switched from formula to milk right in the middle of that process.

Don't let your ped pressure you. It is perfectly normal for babies/toddlers to be getting a bottle until much later -- some kids keep it up till almost 2. I'm not saying I recommend that (at best, it's going to be a much harder habit to break at that point) but I don't think it does any harm.

Pick one bottle at a time and replace it with a sippy. Do that for a week or so, then pick another bottle for phase-out. You can save the bedtime bottle for last, but if they're really attached to it, I recommend switching around the routine so that the bottle isn't the very last thing. That will make it easier to drop.

They will most likely drink less when you switch to sippies, especially at first. Mine still only drink 8-10 oz a day, and it was way less than that until they got really used to the sippies. We just made sure they had access to water and were getting calcium from yogurt & cheese.

It's hard to let go of keeping track of how much they eat/drink, but you will feel sooo much better once you do it! It only gets more complicated once they're on table foods, and you will drive yourself crazy if you worry about it too much, so let go of it now! It's wonderfully liberating! :icon_biggrin:

 

A few weeks before the girls turned one, we began transitioning to milk and getting rid of the bottles. We stopped giving them the lunch time bottle and then the afternoon bottle first. Then we stopped giving the morning bottle. We replaced each of them with a sippy cup. The last to go was the bedtime bottle. At their 12 month appt, we asked our pedi how to get rid of the bedtime bottle because it was such a part of the bedtime routine. She said they were probably wanting the cuddling more than the milk so to try putting water in the bottle and see what happens. The first night they drank a little of the water and went to sleep. The next night they didn't even want the bottle. We cuddled for a little while and then they went to sleep like always. After that night, we have never had another bottle. As for the formula to milk, we mixed them in varying quantities until it was 100% milk in the bottle. It was about a week before their 12 month appt that we ran out of formula and started drinking whole milk (in sippy cups and bottles). Luckily, our girls like milk and drink plenty. We have to make sure they don't drink too much so that they won't eat their food. They prefer the straw sippy cups and have done really well with them since about 6-7 months old.

 

We just completed the transition about a month ago. I think that hardest part is finding the right sippy! Sheesh, I think I bought all of them to see which one(s) they would use. We have ended up with the Nuby straw sippy.

Like a pp said, we started eliminating a bottle completely, then just making sure that they had enough fluids for the day. You might increase the amount in the remaining bottles if you are concerned with overall intake. Mine didn't "miss" their bottles like I thought they would. I think I had the bigger issue than they did.

I mixed milk in the bottles with formula. They did NOT like the abrupt change in what they were drinking anymore than they liked the abrupt change in what they were drinking out of. In fact, DD just doesn't like the taste of milk, so I add a little chocolate milk mix in now so that she'll drink about 15 ounces a day.

 

We got rid of bottles at 11 months, and I was worried at first. My babies had horrible reflux, and counting oz's was a way of life for many months! But, honestly, they need the food now more than the milk. When you decrease the formula/milk, they will start eating more food. My ped says 16oz of milk is all they need at this point. I know it's stressful!! :hug99: I put a sippy on the table and they can have it whenever they want throughout the day. They usually don't drink the whole thing like they would a bottle.

 

Thanks for all the advice.

I have been giving the girls three seven ounce bottles. Today they had their morning bottle then after their nap I gave them sippy cups with chocolate milk. They were NOT impressed!! I am not sure if it was the chocolate or the milk...

After they wake up at 4:15 I gave them sippy cups with formula (we ran out of milk) they both drank about 4 ounces (not that I was counting :FIFblush: )

I think that at bedtime we will do a few ounces of formula and a few ounces of milk in a bottle.

Tomorrow I am going to try formula/milk mix in sippy cups (except for bedtime). They really do great with sippys - they just end up wearing a lot

They are almost 100% on table food so I guess that is a plus - it is just so hard to change your tune after 12 months!

 

I was fearful of dropping bottles so I actually started acclimating them to sippies (with water at meals) at 6 mos - my mom really picked up the pace by giving them ALL their formula in a sippy for lunch and dinner (if they were with her at dinnertime)...by 12 mos we were down to a morning bottle and evening bottle and they made the decision not to have the morning bottle anymore - they would wait for the breakfast for the sippy...at night whether or not they get milk depends on what time dinner was and if they ate well - like today dinner was very early (4:30) so at 7 they got a sippy of milk and a banana for a snack before bath and bed...on nights when they eat later (6 pm or later) then they don't need the sippy or snack before bed (8 pm) as for the formula to milk transition - I started with 1 oz milk and 5 oz formula, then 2 oz milk 4 oz formula and so on - after a week and a half they were on straight milk and it took about another week for them to enjoy it - and now when they see the jug come out they scream for it! I packed up the last of the bottles 2 weeks ago and haven't looked back!

 

I had to thank you for this because this is something I will be tackling in a just a couple of weeks and have also been thinking about. So thanks, I gained from this too!!

 

The transition was painless for us - they were done with bottles by 12 months.
I think it's easier at this young age than waiting until closer to 2. We eliminated a bottle every few days/week. The last to go was the nightime bottle. I remember that the first time I offered Aaron milk in a sippy at bedtime, he threw it across the room in a rage. So I put him to bed without the milk. He slept fine and we never looked back.

 

I tried at 13 months and it failed horribly! My ped said no formula after 15 months, they are 16 months old and still on 2 bottles a day plus 3 meals + 3 sippies. They (and I) just arent ready to drop them yet, I dont feel they are ready. I am sure my doc wont be happy when I see her in Sept but oh well, they are my kids, if I'm not comfortable with it thats my right.

 

I first tried sippys at 11 mos and the kids hated it. I tried filling them with milk during meals, I don't know if it had to do with the type of sippys that I used, or if they just weren't ready, or that they associated Milk (formula at that time) with bottles, not sippys. I tried several times with no success. I put them away and tried a month later. This time, instead of filling them with milk I filled them with water with a tad of juice, and only with their lunch. I thought the Nuby bottles worked the best. It was really hard at first, but now we've graduated to regular sippys ( we like Avent brand) and they drinking like champs. We are now only doing their last bottle before bed, in a traditonal bottle, but hope to drop that soon too. As far as the amount of fluid, you can make up for the less oz. drank with yougurt and cheese and other dairy in their diet. Rice receal and oatmeal are the easiest meals to "sneak in" more milk.

 

Well that went over like a ton of bricks!

B'fast sippy didn't go well. I think that each of them drank MAYBE 2.5 ounces. I gave them 1/2 milk and 1/2 formula and then after 1 hour gave them all formula. Maybe my ratio was off in the first one.

I am trying not to give in and get the bottles out. They were going over to their sippys and drinking on their own so that's good.

I guess we'll see how they do after their nap. I just want to make sure that they get enough liquids. I am shooting for 12-16 ounces right?

Gosh this is fun!

 

When we first went to sippies, we used the Nuby soft spout for milk. They were down to a morning and evening bottle anyway, with water sippies at each meal. I did do it cold turkey at 13 months and it wasn't that big of a deal. I just gave them a sippy instead of a bottle and they were fine with it. I did have to encourage them a bit. Our doctor said to keep it around 16 oz of milk, and this includes dairy products like cheese and yogurt. So mine drink maybe 10 oz a day, and usually have one or two servings of dairy at meals. Too much milk, and they get constipated. When we first did the switch, they were drinking more like 16 oz and were terribly constipated.
ETA: Our doctor said to wean them off bottles by 18 months, we just ended up doing it earlier.

 

Their intake will go down for a couple days, don't give back into the bottle. They'll pick it up when they realize that's how they are getting their milk. I was an ounce counter, big time too, but the transition for my girls went very well and they seem to like milk much better than formula. I have to limit Lily to 20 ounces, or she'd drink way more!